LT> > Y OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS 590-S FI V.34 BIOIOGY Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library L161— O-1096 FIELDIANA - ZOOLOGY Published by CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Volume 34 NOVEMBER 10, 1955 No. 33 THREE NEW BULBULS FROM AFRICA (CLASS AVES) AUSTIN L. RAND CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY In surveying the bulbuls of Africa it became necessary to describe three new subspecies. Besides the material available in Chicago Natural History Museum, Dr. Dean Amadon and the American Museum of Natural History kindly lent me comparative material. The A. I. Good collection of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, now on loan in Chicago Natural History Museum, was also important for reference. Pycnonotus barbatus In reviewing this species an interesting discovery was the recognition of a widespread population in eastern French West Africa that is a connecting link between three quite different sub- species. This J name Pycnonotus barbatus goodi subsp. nov. Type. — Chicago Natural History Museum no. 204790, from Garoua, northern Cameroon. Adult male. Collected December 5, 1951, by Kieffer for A. I. Good. Diagnosis. — Intermediate between P. b. inornatus of Upper Guinea and P. b. arsinoe of the Nile Valley. Like inornatus, but differs in having the crown, side of head and throat considerably darker brown; like arsinoe, but differs in having the dark areas of the head brownish, not black, and in having the white spot back of the ear coverts barely indicated at most. Like nigeriae it has the head dark brown but the back and the lower breast are much paler, giving a much greater contrast between head and body. Measurements.— Wing: male 97; female 92, 93, 94, 97; sex? 94, 101. Tail: male 81; female 78, 81, 85, 87; sex? 84, 92 mm. No. 778 333 NOV H 1335 334 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 34 Range. — From northern Cameroon (Garoua) and northern Nigeria (Zaria Province) to Air (or Asben) in French West Africa. Remarks. — The birds from northern Cameroon have been re- ferred to inornatus (Good, 1953, Mem. Inst. Franc. Afr. Noire, Ser. Sci. Nat., no. 3, p. 226), which they certainly are not. Birds from parts of northern Nigeria to Lake Chad have been referred to inornatus (Bannerman, 1936, Bds. Trop. West Afr., 4: 137). Birds from Air were referred to arsinoe by Hartert (1921, Nov. Zool., 28: 126), with the comment that the head was browner than in Egyptian birds, possibly due to state of plumage, and by Nietham- mer (1955, Bonn. Zool. Beitr., 6: 71). This new subspecies is intermediate between three quite different adjacent forms: arsinoe of Egypt and Darfur; inornatus of Upper Guinea; and nigeriae of southern Nigeria and southern Cameroon. However, in characters it is moderately distinct from any of them; and the specimens from three widely separated localities (two about 700 miles apart) agree so well, except for a very slight yellow to the under tail coverts of the north Cameroon birds, that it seems ad- visable to recognize this connecting link by name. A single specimen from 60 miles north of Ngaoundere, Cameroon, is intermediate between goodi and nigeriae, indicating where inter- gradation between the two forms occurs. Specimens examined. — P. 6. goodi: Cameroon, Garoua, 2; Nigeria, Zaria, 2; French West Africa, Asben (or Air), 3. P. b. inornatus: Senegal, Portuguese Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and French Sudan (Bamako and Bandiagara), 11. P. 6. arsinoe: Egypt and Khartoum, 19. P. 6. nigeriae: Nigeria, Degama (topotypes), 6; Cameroon, north to Tibati, 22. Ixonot us guttatus This spotted bulbul ranges from the forests of lower Guinea to Uganda. Judging by specimens available, it is common in the western part of its range, whence it was described, the type locality being Gabon, but is rare and local on the eastern edge of its range. No geographical variation has been described, but our material indicates a moderate amount of difference between birds from the eastern and the western part of the range, necessitating the de- scription of the eastern bird as RAND: THREE NEW BULBULS FROM AFRICA 335 Ixonotus guttatus bugoma subsp. nov. Type. — Chicago Natural History Museum no. 114232, from Bugoma Forest, Uganda. Adult female. Collected July 22, 1914. From F. J. Jackson collection. Diagnosis. — Like /. guttatus of Gabon and Cameroon but differs chiefly in the darker, browner olive (not grayish) forehead. Other less obvious differences are the darker brownish sides of the neck, ear coverts, and hind neck; the darker olive back; and the average slightly longer tail. Measurements. — /. g. bugoma: Wing: male 89, 90, 90, 91, 91, 93, 95; female 90, 90, 93. Tail: male 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 80; female 76, 77, 78 mm. 7. g. guttata: GABON: Wing: male (6) 89-94 (av. 90.7); female 88, 93. Tail: male (6) 71-77 (av. 73). CAMEROON: Wing: male (10) 89-95 (av. 93.4); female (10) 86-93 (av. 89). Tail: male (10) 71-78 (av. 74.3); female (10) 69-77 (av. 72.9 mm.). Range. — The forests of western Uganda (Bugoma and Budongo) and eastern Belgian Congo. Remarks. — The type locality of /. g. guttatus J. and E. Verreaux, 1851, is Gabon. Our material is from Gabon, French Middle Congo, and Cameroon only, but presumably this western form extends eastward into the eastern Belgian Congo. Specimens examined. — I. g. bugoma: Uganda, Bugoma and Budongo, 6; Belgian Congo, Ituri, 4. 7. g. guttata: Gabon, 7; French Middle Congo, 2; French Cam- eroon, 32. Phyllastrephus albigularis This species, described from Fanti, is known from Upper and Lower Guinea to Uganda, and several subspecies have been proposed but none of them are valid. Phyllastrephus albigularis adametzi Reichenow, 1916, from Bamenda, Cameroon Highlands, has had an especially unfortunate history. Bannerman (1936, Bds. Trop. West Afr., 4: 177) examined the type and tentatively concluded it was a valid race of albigularis. Serle (1950, Ibis, p. 374) reported that Stresemann examined the type and wrote him it was a specimen of P. poliocephalus — information which has been copied by some authors. But in 1954, Serle (1954, Ibis, p. 63) wrote that a printer's slip was responsible for the 1950 allocation and that adametzi was a synonym of P. poensis. 336 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 34 The types of leucolaema Sharpe, 1902, Toro Forest; ugandae Reichenow, 1907, Entebbe; camerunensis Reichenow, 1915, Duma, Ubangi, Belgian Congo; and zenkeri Reichenow, 1916, Bipindi, Cam- eroon, were all examined by Bannerman (1936, Bds. Trop. West Afr., 4: 176) and relegated to the synonymy of albigularis. However, Sick (1934, Orn. Monatsb., 42: 169) extended the range of the species to Angola on the basis of a single specimen from Roca Congula and pointed out certain differences, possibly of subspecific importance. In 1954 Gerd Heinrich collected a series of these birds from Angola for Chicago Natural History Museum and these specimens confirm Sick's observations as to the distinctness of the Angola bird. I name it Phyllastrephus albigularis viridiceps subsp. nov. Type. — Chicago Natural History Museum no. 220880. Collected at Cantele, Qual Sul River, 30 km. west of Camabatela, Angola, April 19, 1954, by Gerd Heinrich. Diagnosis. — Like P. a. albigularis, but differs in that the top of the head is much greener, little different from the back (not grayish brown, darker than the back and contrasting with it), and the tail is duller brown, less rufous. Other less diagnostic differences are the slightly more dusky olive breast and flanks and the paler, grayer green (not darker and more olive green) upper parts. Measurements.— Wing: male (9) 82-89 (av. 85.5); female 72, 74. Tail: male 77-85 mm. (av. 80.1). Range. — Northern Angola. Remarks. — Mr. Heinrich recorded this species as taken in primary tropical wood, which agrees with our knowledge of this species' habitat elsewhere. Specimens examined. — P. a. viridiceps: Angola, type locality and Duque de Braganze, 13. P. a. albigularis: Gabon, 1; Cameroon, 1; Nigeria, Ondo Province, 1; Belgian Congo, Ituri, 1; Uganda, 48. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA